This thesis comprises three essays dealing with information and learning in business decision-making. The first essay presents a theory explaining the existence of dedicated financial intermediaries (i.e., venture capitalists) who serve the entrepreneurial sector. Building on the well-established idea that informational asymmetries are central in entrepreneurial financing, the main hypothesis is that venture capitalists exist precisely because they develop special expertise in reducing information-based market failures through careful selection, monitoring, and other means. The primary contribution of this chapter lies in linking the theoretical structure to detailed evidence on venture capital investment in Canada. Specifically, the theory suggests four empirical predictions. It is argued that the evidence is consistent with these predictions and therefore with the central hypothesis. In the second essay, two agents, an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist, engage in repeated, ultimatum-style bargaining about a two-dimensional financial contract. They base their offers on simple heuristics, which are processed by a genetic algorithm. The algorithm captures some fundamental principles of human learning. A simulation experiment reveals that with incomplete information, disagreement and delays in bargaining are observed more frequently than under complete information. This can be explained by the sensitivity of agents' learning to information. It is also found that the agent in the weak bargaining position might benefit from incomplete information. The third essay explores a range of hypotheses that might explain differential intra-industry firm performance. A behavioral model is developed in which simple rules guide firms on whether to adapt internally and/or imitate others in order to effect organizational change. This dynamic, multi-period model, in which firms simultaneously compete, is simulated under assumptions which correspond to the hypotheses about differential firm performance. Results reveal that stochastic managerial choice and organizational inertia are plausible sources of differential firm performance. Experiential learning, in and of itself, has only limited influence on heterogeneous firm performance. Interestingly, imitation may be an undesirable strategy for underperforming firms either because it is aimed at a "moving target" or because the targeted market niche is already crowded. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / The Bull survey of 1998 [1]; conducted by Spike Cavell in the UK was used to identify major causes of IT project failures. The survey showed that failures due to missed deadlines accounted for 75% and the inability to meet project requirements accounted for 37% of the failures. The failures were mainly due to requirement changes during the project. Project requirements are laid out during scope planning phase of project management life cycle and all risks are assumed to be known during the planning phase of the project [2], [3], [13]. The project management process involves a finite number of key life cycle management phases from initiation to closure [2]. The project management body of knowledge (PMBoK) states that every project is managed by the project management triangle the relationship between scope, time and cost [43]. Changes in the project management triangle may cause failure to the project [15]. Projects are considered to be unique endeavours [43]; and using a “one size fits all” approach to find a solution to solve project failure will be impossible [39]. This presents a significant challenge; developing a framework to limit project failures which will widely be applicable to projects. The research study will apply a well-developed concept of agile project management to an organisation that is experiencing high project failure rates to determine if agile principles may be used to reduce project failures. The research will also look at the factors affecting the adoption of agile principles in large organisations. Specifically the research will look at the effects of the environment that the organisation operates in and the effects of the organisational structure. Action research is chosen as the research methodology in order to understand and improve the inefficiencies within the organisation. This gives a practical account for any organisation and adds to the project management body of knowledge.

M.Com. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This dissertation explores strategic planning in federal agencies. The research seeks to uncover difficulties federal agencies experience when making strategic plans, to explore the relationship between these difficulties and the degree of publicness of the agencies, and to uncover and describe techniques used by federal agencies to overcome difficulties. The research is important because strategic planning has gained renewed interest in federal government organizations stimulated by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and there are few empirical studies on strategic planning based on the public character of these organizations. The results present the difficulties and techniques reported by planners in eighteen separate federal agencies and show a relationship between the degree of publicness of the agency and the difficulties encountered in strategic planning. / Ph. D.

Small businesses in the United States employ 98% of workers, yet approximately 47% of small businesses shut down in less than five years. Business leaders who fail to implement adequate strategic strategies experience reduced profits and sustainability challenges. These business closures cause unemployment rates to rise and inflict damages to the economic growth of economies in the United States. This multiple case study was grounded in the theory of transformational leadership. The purpose was to explore strategies used by small financial business owners to sustain their businesses beyond five years. The population consisted of 8small financial businesses in Southwest Florida; these businesses all have been in operation beyond 5years. Using methodological triangulation, data were collected from interviews with the leaders, company documents, physical artifacts such as the company websites and social media pages, to assess culture similarities and differences. Thematic analysis involved developing codes and themes from data collected and member checking. Four themes emerged transformational leadership, establishing trust, maintaining adequate capital, and proficient time management. These themes applied by business owners may help business owners experience greater success in remaining sustainable. The findings of this study could contribute to positive social change by providing insights for small financial business owners on the strategic implementations for business longevity that would possibly increase workplace stability for employees supporting their families as well as contributing positively to their communities in Southwest Florida

The VPC's Planning Methodology (Strategic Performance Improvement Planning Process) has been primarily based on action research. This thesis attempts to externally validate the methodology by asking "has the methodology evolved consistently with the findings of others?" This was accomplished by comparing the methodology to other recent strategic planning/management methodologies and having planning practitioners and consultants compare the VPC's Methodology to their own methodologies. A second objective was to identify potential improvements to the methodology. In most cases, the VPC's Methodology was more comprehensive than the methodologies found in the literature. The only potential shortcoming of the methodology was the lack of an explicit component for a coordinated strategy, although the methodology includes a vision of the future and strategic objectives components. The planning practitioners and consultants offered several minor suggestions for improving the methodology, but none found any significant shortcomings in the methodology. Interestingly, none of the practitioners/consultants mentioned the lack of a strategy component; however, at least two of them felt a better link was needed between strategic and tactical objectives. This leads me to believe the VPC's Methodology has evolved consistently with the findings of others. Some of the potential improvements identified include: a relocation of planning assumptions within the process model, a revised technique for analyzing planning assumptions, the addition of a strategy component, clarification of the role of Key Performance Indicators, clarification and emphasis on under-utilized components of the methodology, and revisions to the process model. / Master of Science

Many American organizations have reported dissatisfaction with the results of their strategic planning, TQM, or other large-scale change efforts. Some have even abandoned their efforts all together. According to the literature, the major problem seems to be with implementation and deployment. One of the major obstacles that organizations face in the implementation and deployment phase of their planning effort is the loss of momentum. They seem to get the ball rolling and generate a lot of initial excitement but then after some period of time, the energy level begins to decline. All of the work: that was put in at the beginning seems to get cast aside in order to "get the job done" or to ''fight fires." In an effort to provide American organizations with some recommendations for successful implementation and deployment, this research addressed two questions: (1) What are the "root causes" leading to an organization's strategic planning effort to lose momentum during implementation and deployment, and (2) Does it appear that ''Hoshin'' organizations struggle with these root causes to a lesser degree than "Non-Hoshin" organizations? / Master of Science

Organizations that must respond quickly to environmental pressures look for tools to assist in that response. Information technology may be one tool to facilitate the response. In this study the possible effects of using information technology, specifically a decision support system, in the feedback segment of one organization's strategic management loop were examined. The organization was one region of the Board of Probation and Parole in a central state. Personnel included administrators, parole officers and clerical workers. The information technology was an off-the-shelf software product called PlanRight. This study is significant for two reasons: a new application for information technology was examined and the adequacy of a generic computerized tool designed to be suitable for various operations was explored. This study was a case study. Two months of data were taken prior to the implementation of the decision support system, and four months of data were taken after the system was implemented. Questionnaire data taken before system implementation provided descriptive characteristics of the organization. Follow-up surveys and interviews at the conclusion of the study were used to evaluate employee perceptions. The study was done in three phases. During phase one questionnaires were distributed and returned. During phase two, goals, plans and evaluation criteria were formulated and plans were implemented. Feedback was obtained and evaluated through the use of the decision support system enabling reaction to the feedback data. In phase three perceptions of administrators and parole officers were elicited using follow-up surveys and semi-structured interviews. Three propositions guided the evaluation of the study's outcomes. These propositions dealt with performance toward goal achievement, satisfaction with feedback processes and quality of plans formulated for the project. Performance was moderately successful. Satisfaction with processes was high. Speed of obtaining feedback was considered high by administrators and paroled officers. Quality of processes and outcomes was evaluated to be good.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo geral responder ao seguinte problema de pesquisa: Como o processo de planejamento estratégico ocorre nos municípios brasileiros? Seus objetivos específicos incluem conhecer a evolução dos conceitos gerais do estudo a partir da realização de um estudo bibliométrico, analisar como o processo de planejamento estratégico proposto por Poister e Streib dialoga com a realidade brasileira, identificar as particularidades das práticas de planejamento estratégico adotadas nos municípios estudados e compreender como elas afetam o seu planejamento. Dessa forma, o estudo incluiu uma investigação bibliométrica com o intuito de identificar como o planejamento estratégico no setor público tem sido abordado no âmbito acadêmico e um estudo de caso de dois municípios brasileiros: Porto Alegre, capital do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, e Sorocaba, cidade de grande porte do Estado de São Paulo. Apresentados os dados coletados a partir de entrevistas, visitas a sites, leitura de documentos e interpretação de legislações diversas, foi realizada uma análise qualitativa buscando responder aos objetivos da pesquisa. Tal análise foi feita de forma comparativa entre os dois municípios e também à luz do referencial teórico apresentado ao longo da pesquisa. Após a apresentação e a análise dos casos, verificou-se que a pesquisa conseguiu responder ao problema proposto de entender como o processo de planejamento estratégico ocorre nos municípios brasileiros. Ao analisar as práticas de planejamento estratégico adotadas nos municípios estudados, pudemos compreender como certas particularidades afetam o planejamento estratégico e determinam seu foco. Com a análise feita, a percepção, por parte da autora da pesquisa, é que o papel das lideranças (prefeitos, vice-prefeitos e secretários) é um dos principais fatores para o sucesso de um planejamento estratégico, bem como dos funcionários de níveis hierárquicos inferiores. Ao comparar o referencial teórico com os casos analisados, foi possível afirmar que os processos de planejamento estratégico dos municípios analisados, mesmo quando não atendem a todos os requisitos, se preocupam ou se preocuparam com todos os itens das variáveis propostas pelos autores supracitados. / The present work had as its main goal responding to the following research problem: How does the process of strategic planning happen in Brazilian municipalities? Its specific goals include knowing the evolution of the study\'s general concepts by carrying out a bibliometric study, analyzing how the process of strategic planning proposed by Poister and Streib converses with the Brazilian reality, identifying the particular features of the strategic planning practices adopted in the municipalities studied and understanding how they affect their planning. The study hence includes a bibliometric investigation with a view to identifying how strategic planning in the public segment has been approached in the academic environment and a case study concerning two Brazilian municipalities: Porto Alegre, capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and Sorocaba, a large city in the state of São Paulo. After presenting the data collected from interviews, visits to websites, reading of documents and interpretation of various laws, a qualitative analysis was performed, in order to answer this research\'s goals. This analysis was carried out comparing the two municipalities, in the light of the theoretical background presented throughout. After the presentation and analysis of the cases, it was verified that this research managed to respond to the problem proposed, i.e. understanding how the process of strategic planning takes place in Brazilian municipalities. When analyzing strategic planning practices adopted in the municipalities studied, it was possible to understand how certain particularities affect strategic planning and determine its focus. When the analysis was concluded, the perception of the author is that the role of leaderships (mayors, vice-mayors and secretaries) is one of the main factors for the success of strategic planning, as well as that of employees in lower hierarchical levels. Comparing the theoretical background with the cases analyzed made it possible to affirm that the processes of strategic planning in the municipalities studied, even when they did not meet all criteria, are (or were) concerned with all the items of the variables proposed by the aforementioned authors.

by Mok Wai Chung, David and Dai Yat Hang, Alice. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Bibliography: leaf 66. / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS --- p.iv / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.v / Chapter / Chapter I. --- "THE COMPANY, ITS PRODUCTS AND ITS COMPETITORS" --- p.1 / Company Profile --- p.1 / Corporate Culture and Company Philosophy --- p.2 / Organization Structure --- p.3 / Property Development vs Property Investment --- p.4 / Process of Property Development --- p.5 / Classification of Competitors --- p.8 / Strengths and Weaknesses of Cheung Kong --- p.10 / Chapter II. --- MARKET PROFILE --- p.12 / The Building Industry Development --- p.12 / Building Types --- p.13 / Profit Contribution --- p.15 / Market Structure Characteristics --- p.17 / Competitive Strategy of Rival Firms --- p.19 / Chapter III. --- IDENTIFICATION OF THE UNSERVED MARKET NICHE --- p.20 / Public Housing Scenerio --- p.20 / Rental --- p.21 / HOS/PSPS --- p.22 / Supply and Demand of Public Housing --- p.23 / The Cost-Focus Approach --- p.24 / Consumer Profile --- p.25 / Objective --- p.25 / Sampling Method --- p.25 / Observation --- p.26 / Chapter IV. --- COST-FOCUS STRATEGY --- p.27 / Cost and Price Analysis --- p.27 / Acquisition of Land --- p.29 / Chapter V. --- MARKETING STRATEGY --- p.30 / Product Strategy --- p.30 / Product Differentiation --- p.30 / Quality --- p.31 / Management --- p.32 / Maintenance --- p.32 / Pricing Strategy --- p.33 / Markup Pricing --- p.33 / Reduction in Construction Cost --- p.33 / Incremental Pricing Strategy --- p.35 / Distribution Strategy --- p.35 / Improvement in Existing Distribution Channels --- p.36 / Creation of District Sales Office --- p.36 / Promotion Strategy --- p.37 / Chapter VI. --- CONCLUSION --- p.39 / APPENDIX --- p.41 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.66